Houck (facial fracture) in stable condition after comebacker

BOSTON -- Red Sox righty starter Tanner Houck has been diagnosed with a facial fracture, sustained when he was hit by a batted ball by Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka at the start of the fifth inning in Friday night’s game at Fenway Park.

According to a statement released by the Red Sox on Saturday, Houck was evaluated on Friday night at Mass General Hospital and is now resting at home in stable condition. Follow-up appointments next week will determine next steps and a treatment plan.

After getting stitches at the ballpark, Houck went to the hospital for observation, Red Sox manager Alex Cora revealed after his team’s 15-5 victory over the Yankees.

“He was conscious the whole time, so that's good,” said Cora.

Houck was able to walk off the mound under his own power and gave a fist pump to the crowd as he neared the dugout. The moment was unsettling to both teams and everyone who witnessed it.

“It seemed like he was doing all right, as he's walking off the field,” said Higashioka. “So that’s always good to see. But it’s not something you want to see out there. So I'm just glad that he's doing all right.”

Higashioka admitted to being a little shaken up.

“Yeah, I mean, definitely, a little bit because we all want to compete on the field and you want to knock him out of the game by getting hits, but you don’t want to see him go down with an injury,” said Higashioka. “I'm glad that it wasn't as bad as it could have been.”

After being hit, Houck immediately went to the ground, and his face became bloodied by the impact.

“We reacted right away,” said Cora. “He knew where he was right away and he kept saying he was fine. We just have to make sure we slow him down. I saw him while he was getting stitches. I mean, he got lucky. Let's put it that way.”

Red Sox designated hitter Justin Turner, who got 16 stitches on March 6 after getting hit by a pitch during Spring Training, could relate to what his teammate was going through.

“Yeah, absolutely,” said Turner. “It’s scary when anyone gets hit up in the head [area]. Obviously it was bleeding right away. He got his stitches back there and he was in good spirits and we know he’s a tough guy so he’ll bounce back. I didn't get a chance to talk to him in the clubhouse, but a couple of guys did. And he was in pretty good spirits before he went to the hospital to get some scans and check in on him. And hopefully it's a few stitches and hopefully back out there.“

Before the injury, Houck pitched well, holding the Yankees to four hits and one run over four innings while walking one and striking out two.

“He threw the ball well and he’s been doing that for a while now,” said Cora. “Obviously there's going to be outings where he will struggle, but he is a good pitcher. And he kept throwing his best pitches as much as possible, and he kept them off-balanced and he did an outstanding job.”

In 13 starts this season, Houck is 3-6 with a 5.05 ERA.